Blog

All of the 2013 American Community Survey data sets are now available on Social Explorer.  Subscribers can access the new data through our mapping and reporting tools.   These data come from the American Community Survey (ACS), an extensive annual survey administered by the Census Bureau to a sample of about three million households nationwide.   Users enjoy full access to the one-year (2013), three-year (2011-13) and five-year (2009-2013) files with m... more

Our latest collaboration with the Census Bureau launches today!   Young Adults: Then and Now looks at socioeconomic characteristics of 18- to 34-year-olds across time, from Baby Boomers to Millennials.  Compare the different generations by gender, education, median income, and more.  Young people today are more diverse, better educated, more likely to be bilingual. They also have higher rates of poverty and unemployment.  (Read more about th... more

A new radio story on the lack of police diversity features commentary and analysis from Social Explorer's Andrew Beveridge.  In "Not Just Ferguson, Many NJ Towns Have Mostly White Police," WNYC reporter Sarah Gonzalez examined the gap between residents and their local police. Police Departments in New Jersey are struggling to hire women and minorities, leaving many towns with a high number of minority residents being policed by mostly white officers. ... more

Newly released data from the 2013 American Community Survey are now available on Social Explorer.  Subscribers can access the new data as with both our map and reporting tools.   These data come from the American Community Survey (ACS), an extensive annual survey administered by the Census Bureau to a sample of about three million households nationwide.   The three-year (2011-13) and five-year (2009-2013) files with more geographic detail will be avail... more

In the New York Times article "Gap Between Manhattan’s Rich and Poor Is Greatest in U.S., Census Finds," Sam Roberts investigates demographic trends with data and analysis from Social Explorer and Andrew Beveridge.  Newly released data from the American Community Survey reveal that "Manhattan is becoming an island of extremes." The mean income of the top 5 percent of households in Manhattan soared 9 percent in 2013 over 2012, giving Manhattan the biggest... more

The New York Times cites data and analysis from Social Explorer's Andrew Beveridge in its examination of the lack of diversity in police precincts.  In the article "Mostly White Forces in Mostly Black Towns: Police Struggle for Racial Diversity," reporter Shaila Dewan explores the demographics and challenges of police precincts in Ferguson, MO, Maple Heights, OH, and beyond.  The data show that while the cities are diverse or majority Afri... more

Try the New Social Explorer!  The latest version of Social Explorer includes a powerful storytelling tool, side-by-side mapping, custom annotations, and more.  Get started here, or tour our new features here.  You can also find out more in our help section.     A sample from the new Social Explorer showing the new dashboard, double map, satellite view, and mouseover. Social Explorer provides quick and easy access to cur... more

This past weekend, Social Explorer's Andrew Beveridge presented at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting in San Francisco.  The theme was Hard Times: The Impact of Economic Inequality on Families and Individuals.   Beveridge presided over the session "Public Sociology," focusing on developments in the field.  He and fellow New York and Los Angeles: The Uncertain Future editor participated in the "Hard Times in a Regional Persp... more

As teams and fans prepare for the final World Cup match of the tournament, Social Explorer takes a look at the ancestry groups of Germany and Argentina.  We use Census and American Community Survey data to look at these top two contending team heritages in the US, today and in prior championship years.   These two teams faced off in the World Cup finals in 1986, when Argentina won and 1990, when Germany won (called the West Germany team at the time).  Rather th... more

 In addition to Independence Day, July 4th also marks the birthday of soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers, best known for his Grammy Award winning songs including “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Just the Two of Us."  To celebrate, Social Explorer takes a look at data from the musician’s birthplace. The youngest of six children, he was born on July 4, 1938, in Slab Fork, West Virginia, and raised in nearby Beckley.  (The two towns were bo... more